Music: A salute to the true blues maestros

John Murray

How many people have asked ‘are you going to see the Rolling Stones this week?’

I have heard several, and from a certain demographic that remembers the peak years from a long time ago.

So Murrayfield will be a nostalgic trip, many seeing them for the first time and paying up to £200 for the privilege.

Not me, and not that they were ever original in the first place, but instead had the longevity to survive.

Like many British groups of their day they found electric blues from the masters and copied, parodied or re-wrote those originals.

I turned to a new CD set Got The Blues for inspiration and while many of the artists and titles were unfamiliar the songs certainly struck a chord. Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Howlin’ Wolf and the man with the square guitar, Bo Diddley.

That was just one selection from the first CD and there are three more totalling 80 blues selections in this wee box.

Even the great Elvis roots are here with That’s Allright from Arthur Big Boy Cruddup and Hound Dog by its originator Big Mama Thornton.

You see it was a blues lady that first hollered that great line and there are other great lady performers who ran with the gang like Etta James, Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, Koko Taylor and naturally Billie Holiday. The album title gives just a nod to modern electric blues and so brilliantly heard from the great Gary Moore, sadly missed and sadly edited here to fit the CD. The only other moan I have is the lack of sleeve, maybe it was a cost decision as the compilers did well enough to keep this retail at under a tenner.